Halt!: A SHSL Actress Appears?
by The Girl who is FandomStruck
Summary: Hope's Peak Academy. A school dedicated to educating the world's finest SHSL talents. But as the SHSL Despair prepared their game, they miscalculated. Instead of 15 students pitted against each other, there are a couple more! Will they survive? Or will they just be more victims of despair? (Please give critiques and/or reviews!)
1. Profile

Name: Akari Moyotama

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Height: 157 cm (about 5'3)

Weight: 109 lbs

Blood Type: O

SHSL: Actress

Orientation: Japanese

Appearance: Shoulder length dark brown hair (with a small bun containing the rest of her hair with dark pink eyes. She wears a school uniform(Cased Closed styled) with ankle high black boots

Personality: Anxious, acts shallow around people she doesn't know but becomes more relaxed and calm once you know her, has an inferiority complex because of her neglect

Likes: Being surrounded by fans, Manga(more so Cased Closed), Surreal Art, Dango and other sweets, Takoyaki, The ocean

Dislikes: Cooking, Cleaning, family relationships

Bio: As a result from an affair, Akari received little attention from both sides of her family. Although her family was rich, she was forced to clean and cook their large mansion all by herself whenever her parents were away(which was often), causing her hatred for the activities. She constantly tried to get her parent's attention but each time they just ignored her. The way her parents acted turned her away from family connections. This constant neglect pushed her into acting, her only outlet for her despair. While performing at a local acting guild, a scout recruited her, allowing her to perform in many hit movies and t.v. shows. She was wanted in the industry for her abilities to mask her emotions and fake happiness to a t.

Family: Haruhi Moyotama[a business woman] -mother (36) Hiro Moyotama[entrepreneur]-father (40)

Speech patterns/Quotes: When angry she switches between her onscreen persona and her shallow persona. When pushed to the edge, she cracks and breaks down. "Acting is my hope! It's the only thing I can count on!" "If THEY didn't want to be bothered with me, why would you?!" "Why? Why, why, WHY must you say these things!"

Free Time Events: She asks about stage direction and the types of theater. The gifts that she will accept are: Mineral Water, Rose Hip Tea, Black Croissant, Royal Curry, Overflowing Lunchbox, Kitten Hair clip, Eternal Friendship Bracelet, Rose in Vitio, and the Voice Changing Bowtie.

Other: Will say references to Cased Closed/Detective Conan(her favorite manga),Wants attention to make up for the attention that was never given to her by her parents. Not a great liar when pressured, likes the idea of children, is from the prefecture Saitama, is a horrible cook and almost poisoned herself multiple times with her own cooking, portrayed by the media as a kind, caring teen who loves her fans(Truth) and her family(Lie).


	2. Prolouge

**WARNING, THIS FANFICTION WILL CONTAIN DARK TOPICS SUCH AS : ANXIETY, FLASHBACKS OF ABUSE, DEATH, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS/ACTIONS, MURDER, PROFANITY, ETC ( YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)**

 _ **I HOPE YOU ENJOY AND LEAVE REVIEWS**_

 _(_ _I would highly appreciate some reviews..._ _)_

"Hope's Peak Academy," Akari said while reading the invitation. She glanced at the fancy paper stamped with wax, contemplating on whether to attend the popular school or remain online.

A school dedicated to Super High School Level (SHSL) talents. Only the best in their field make it into the prestigious school, the letter read in bold cursive letters.

"A school full of Super High School Level talents, like myself…. Do I really deserve this? My talent is production. There are many other people with better talents and abilities. Why send this to me?" She pondered, considering the pros and cons of joining the Academy.

She didn't get any more time to think as break time ended and the producer called her onto set. Akari sighed and walked onto the set, quickly greeting the other actors working on the production.

'I'll go," she decided, with her face scrunched into a tight frown.

 _"I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"_

 _/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/_

'Hope's Peak Academy look just like it did in the pictures,' Akari thought, looking amazed at the establishment.

A regal castle-like school with a high reputation. Akari slowly began to walk onto its premises It reached high in the sky, making Akari feel inferior with each step closer she got to the building. Deciding to make a decent impression, Akari put on a brave face and prepared to open the school doors.

But as soon a she tried, she received a painful headache. Dropping to the ground, she gripped her head, almost screaming in agony. An uncomfortable bile rose in her throat but she refused to throw up. The school began to spin as the world started to blur. As she started to lose consciousness, she thought she saw the school doors open. But she could not do anything about it as her world turned black.


	3. Meeting a new face? (Chapter 1)

**HELLO! Welcome to chapter 2! Thank you so much for the support! Remember, this is an AU or rather an UA (Universe Altercation) meaning that this will NOT follow canon. So some(maybe all) of the trials will not be canon.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dangan Ronpa! I only own this story and my oc, Akari**

 **Nove Etsuko belongs to FireDusk**

 **(I will only accept 1-2 more OCs. They have to make sense of WHY they attend Hope's Peak Academy in Japan.)**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

" _Hello?..." "Are you still sleeping? ….." "...Please wake up!" "...Wait!... You're waking up!..." "...Thank God!..."_

 _/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_

"It's nice to finally see you're awake!" A feminine voice was the first thing Akari heard when she awoke.

As Akari slowly got up from the floor, she discovered that the voice belonged to a brunette girl with shoulder long hair. Her hazel eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Hello! My name is Nove Etsuko, Super High School Level Hostess!" the girl explained, reaching out for a handshake.

"Hostess? I didn't think people would accept that as a talent" Akari stated out loud, shaking Nove's hand. Nove looked confused for a while and then chuckled, figuring out what Akari meant.

"No, silly! Not _*THAT_ kind of hostess. I perform tea ceremonies. I even performed a tea ceremony for some very important members of Japan's parliament!" She explained while giggling, clearing up the confusion.

"Now, do you know how we got here? The windows in this room are blocked so I can't see outside." Nove asked, looked at their surroundings.

"Yes. I totally know where we are. We are in my lavish castle in America and this is a surprise sleepover." Akari snapped sarcastically.

"Really?" Nove said, with sparkling with happiness.

'How stupid is this girl?' Akari thought, dreading their possible future together.

"No. I was being sarcastic. I have no idea where we are. Before I went unconscious, I was outside Hope's Peak Academy. Now I'm here, wherever here is."

Akari looked around the room and finally examined it for herself. Although the windows were bolted shut with some heavy metal plates, there were some lights on in the room. There was a door opposite to her, but it appeared to be locked. A clock hung on the wall, with its hands slowly moving. There were tables and chairs aligned in a particular order, facing a board. But the most surprising thing was the camera pointing at them. It looked like it was recording them.

"Is this… a classroom? And are we on TV?" Akari asked, feeling a sense of anxiety. She then noticed that there was a note written on the board.

"Go to the gym for class introductions…." Nove read from the board, looking confused.

"Where is the gym?" Akari questioned. Her hands began to twitch the longer she stayed in the room. She needed to LEAVE here. NOW.

"I guess we can wander the halls now that the door is unlocked!" Nove exclaimed,dragging the shocked actress with her.

'Was the door unlocked this entire time? Or did Nove do something to it?" Akari thought as she was being directed (dragged) by her new 'friend'.

 _/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_

"So, what's your name?" Nove questioned, not turning around to look at Akari.

Akari looked surprised. Had Nove not have known who she was?

"You really don't know who I am? I'm a celebrity!" Akari exclaimed, her snobby persona surfacing for the first time since waking up in the abandoned classroom.

"And you're NOW deciding to ask this question? What if I was a kidnapper or something? Anyway you don't need to know my name if you didn't know in the first place." Akari retorted.

Nove stopped walking. As she looked at the floor, she started to giggle. Her body slowly shook as she quietly spoke.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

But just as Akari started to speak, Nove grabbed her hand and began to run the halls again. Any remains of her last statement was gone, Nove having retained her naive and sweet personality.

"Now, here we are! The sign says that this is the gym!" Nove declared, looking rather proud that she found the area.

"So…. Let's see what's behind door number 1." Nove voiced, reaching for the door. As she gripped the handle, Akari was unknowingly anticipating what was behind the large, ominous door.

'Should we really open the door? What's behind it? Why am I here… or rather, who brought me here?!'

But like her previous thoughts, they were silenced as the door slowly and painstakingly opened to reveal-

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

 **A cliffhanger! If anyone can correctly write why Akari was surprised to see a hostess can choose which Character Akari will spend her free time with!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	4. Meeting the rest (Chapter 2)

**REMINDER** : Anything **in bold** will be important. Maybe not this chapter since it's an introduction to the other students, but later on clues for class trials will be in bold.

 **Nove and Zhen belong to FireDusk**

 **Akari belongs to me**

 **Nikhil belongs to Nikhilbhavani**

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

A room filled with 16 confused students. The gym was quite large with a polished wooden floor and the Hope's Peak Academy insignia painted on the floor. 'So, this really is Hope's Peak Academy…' Akari thought.

"Why are you two so late! As the **SHSL moral compass,** I demand an explanation!" A black haired, red eyed boy wearing a surprising unwrinkled, crisp, all-white uniform ran up to them and exclaimed. His uptight posture and loud voice demanded respect. His red armband read, 'Public Morals'.

"Can you stop yelling for like 2 minutes?" a blonde girl voiced, covering her ears with a part of her pigtails. Akari recognized her as Enoshima Junko, the **SHSL model.** "My ears feel like they are going to bleed!" She stopped holding her ears as she started to pick on her tie and walked closer towards the group of students.

The others in the gym began to talk with one another, all wondering why they were called here. Although the gym was bright and full of people, Akari noted, the atmosphere was just as tense and unsettling as the abandoned classroom she woke up in, if not more. Everyone looked worried about their situation. Whispers of concerns filled the air.

"Yes! I knew that someone else would be coming! I predicted so!" A tall messy haired adult stated, looking proud about his correct predictions."After all, I'm not the **SHSL clairvoyant** for nothing!" He held a crystal ball and wore disheveled and wrinkled clothes. He didn't really look like a high schooler, but Akari didn't say anything about it.

"But the art of clairvoyance is based on small possibilities, isn't it?" A tall caramel skinned boy with unruly black hair stated. "I'm Nikhil Tsubasa, **SHSL animator** " he politely introduced himself.

"So it's basically bullshit, right?" A very tall cherry haired boy spoke. Akari had to strain her neck to see his face. "Zhen Etsuko, **SHSL stuntman**. I hope that we can make good experiences together."

'Etsuko?' Akari wondered. 'Is he related to Nove?' As Akari looked for Nove who suddenly disappeared. She found her talking to two tanned girls -their appearance could mean athletic SHSL talents Akari concluded- one with a brown bun with some hair sticking out and the other with pure white hair. The white haired student was very muscular and looked liked she could easily bench press her, Akari assumed, wondering if this girl is a high schooler.

"Good experiences? Are you stupid? None of us volunteered to be here!" A tall teen with a pompadour stated, grabbing Akari's attention as well as Zhen's shirt. His entire being just screamed **SHSL biker**. Zhen used his left hand to grip Mondo's wrist, ready to snap it.

"Mondo and Zhen, please calm down! This won't solve anything!" A feminine voice exclaimed, walking towards the two boys. The voice belonged to a petite brunette who looked rather spooked about this entire ordeal.

"Come on Chihiro, does he really believe that we are here for a vacation? None of us know why we are here! Can't you use your **SHSL programmer** mind to realize that?" Mondo said, looking in the petite girl's eyes although he removed his hand from Zhen's shirt.

"Wait, guys! Can't we all get along?" An attractive dark blue haired girl spoke, trying to keep the peace. She then smiled and went to greet Akari with a handshake.

"Hello! I'm Sayaka Maizono. Nice to meet you! And you are..." Her 'girl next door' personality sickened Akari. Sayaka appeared to be pampered, getting anything and everything she wanted.

"Akari. And don't touch me." Akari stated snobbishly. Sayaka looked shocked, and receded her hand.

"Akari? Wait, are you Akari Moyotama? The **SHSL actress**? The lead actress of _Dusk_ , _The Vindicators_ ,and _The blunder in our Stars*_? I've seen all of your films! I'm a big fan! And Sayaka Maizono, the **SHSL pop sensation** , too? What a great day! " A punk boy with obviously dyed hair ran up to her and spoke. His appearance greatly contrasted his mostly white clothes.

"And you are…?" Akari asked. She acknowledged the fact that she had fans, but she didn't know ALL of them.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I'm Leon Kuwata, the **SHSL baseball star** ," he beamed, showing that his teeth were as white as his jacket. "So, you guys are here, too? That makes 18 of us.. Unless you know that we're missing someone."

"The letter I received said that there would be 19 students here. Now there are 18, we are missing one more person…" A silver haired girl examined, a mysterious aura surrounded her. Unlike the others, she didn't state her talent to the others.

"Maybe that person got lost in the school?" An overweight boy wearing clothes that were about a size too small for him asked. To Akari, his leering face and stature screamed **SHSL fanboy** or at least something in that area.

"Don't be stupid," A Gothic Lolita stated with a slight European accent . "Many of the rooms are sealed shut. They couldn't leave if they tried."

"Or maybe there isn't a 19th student. Why do we all need to be here again? If this is a hostage situation, then they would only need me since you all are worth nothing more than a couple thousand yen if not nothing at all," A blonde teen sneered. His arrogant attitude and fancy suit screamed wealth and **SHSL heir**. The pig-tailed black haired girl behind him squeaked as she lovingly stared at the douche.

But as soon he finished speaking the gym doors opened once more. A short boy with dull hazel eyes and brunette hair _-is that an ahoge?_ Akari thought amazed at the gravity defying hair- ran into the room. He looked just as confused as the others. He looked embarrassed as if he interrupted something personal.

"H-Hello… my name is Makoto Naegi." he stammered, most likely intimidated by the people staring at him.

"Now all 19 students are here… When the the 'class ceremony' beginning?" The mysterious silver haired girl asked.

"When the principal arrives!" Kiyotaka exclaimed, walking towards the podium. But when all the students followed Kiyotaka to the back of the gym, they discovered that the podium was occupied...

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

 **With Another cliffhanger! Thank so guys so much with the views and reviews! See you guys next chapter!**


	5. Monokuma? (Chapter 3)

**Here's Chapter 3!**

 **Akari belongs to me**

 **Nove and Zhen belong to FireDusk**

 **Nikhil belongs to Nikhilbhavani**

 **XxXxXxXxX**

A monochrome bear plushie was sitting on the podium. It had a microphone and a glass of water next to it like it was about to say a speech. The right side of its body was pure white, and retained a pure teddy bear personality. But on the left side, it was pure black, with a red slash for an eye.

"A teddy bear?" Chihiro spoke, looking confused at the bear.

"Why is there a teddy bear on the podium?" Nikhil wondered, messing with the silver ring on his finger, hoping that this was all just a dream.

"I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma! And I'm the headmaster here!" It suddenly spoke, spooking most of the students in the gym. Its voice was lighthearted and whimsical, it was almost like it came from a children's cartoon. The amount of discomfort in the room intensified and transformed into muted terror.

"Gaaaah! The teddy bear, it speaks!" Hifumi exclaimed, looking terrified at this new development.

"Relax. It's just had a speaker installed, that's all" Kiyotaka insured, trying to calm down Hifumi.

Monokuma, looking rather upset about being mistaken for a teddy bear, said,"Weren't you listening? I said I'm not a teddy bear… I'm Monokuma and I'm your headmaster!" It stood up on the podium, anger evident on its face.

"Noo! It can move!" Hifumi yelled, his constant outbursts started to annoy Akari.

"Calm the fuck down, man! It's probably just being remote controlled or something…" Mondo proclaimed, also tired of Hifumi.

"That hurts guys… That cuts deeper than the Mariana Trench. I'm not just a silly children's toy.." Monokuma moped, looking down at the floor.

"I've been equipped with a long-range control system that would put NASA to shame… so I would beary much appreciate it if you refrained from trying to shatter my dreams!" It concluded.

" 'Beary?' What a horrible pun." Akari decided to speak. Celes quickly agreed.

"Please be quiet.. A-hem! Rise everyone. And bow! Good morning you guys!" Monokuma said, actually believing that they would bow to it.

"Good morning!" Kiyotaka exclaimed and bowed to the bear.

"Really? Are you seriously bowing to this…. Bear!" Zhen stated, seriously concerned for Kiyotaka's mental health.

"You don't need to.. respond.." Touko quietly added.

"Now, in commemoration of this momentous occasion, I would first like to say a few words concerning the new lives you guys are about to begin here. Ahem, yes. You guys-with your overflowing bounty of talent-are our world's greatest hope! Such that we might be able to protect and ensure the survival of such a wondrous resource...you guys are to carry out your lives together here within the academy walls. It is our hope that you will be able to maintain order and dwell together in friendship and harmony!" Monokuma concluded.

'What? Carry out our lives?' Akari thought, gaining a sick sense in her gut.

"And um… well, you see… The duration of this assignment… is indefinite! To put it simply, you all are required to live the rest of your lives in the school!"

"What did you say? The rest of our lives here?" Nove asked, looking scared.

"Our whole lives?" Touko wondered out loud.

"Yup yup. But there's no need to worry. We've got plenty of money, so we'll make sure you're comfy!" Monokuma declared happily.

"Th-that's not the problem!" Sayaka stammered.

"Like, what? You can't be serious…about making us live here forever?" Junko hesitantly asked, with sweat appearing on her complexion. Surprisingly, her makeup didn't smear with all of the moisture.

"I am not a liar! I can assure you that much! Oh, right, yes, and you might like to know… that this school has been entirely cut-off from the outside! So forget about that filthy place!" Monokuma loudly declared.

"Cut-off?" Makoto said, piecing together what Monokuma stated. "So you're saying.. that those iron plates in the rooms and the halls… are to keep us inside?!"

"Bullseye. You can cry and scream until your lungs fall out, but nobody's coming to rescue you. Anywho, with that said… You guys enjoy your lives here in the academy!" Monokuma confessed.

"Hey… What the hell, man? Even if it is a joke, I'm sure this crosses the line- especially since the school is behind it…" Leon denied, refusing to believe Monokuma's words.

"H-Hey, asshole… I've heard enough… Cut the crap now, and I'll even let you say it was just a prank…" Mondo stuttered.

"The accusations just keep coming, don't they? Monokuma said, looking quite disappointed. "What a suspicious bunch… Welp, I can't really blame you, though. It's a bear-eat-bear world. Ah, whatever. You guys are free to verify whether I'm lying or not on your own later. I'm sure you'll come to realize that everything is say is the pure, unadulterated truth!"

"That's a problem. I don't plan on living here forever…" Celeste said.

"You guys are so silly. Didn't you all come to Hope's Peak Academy of your free will? And now you want to leave in the middle of the opening ceremony…. Well, to tell you the truth, it's not like you can't get out of here…"

"Really?" Touko exclaimed.

"I, your headmaster, have put in place a special system for anyone who wishes to leave! AndI call it 'graduation'! Now, if you would, I'd like to tell you a little bit about that system. As I said, you guys are responsible for maintaining order here within the academy, but… should someone decide to destroy that order… they, and they alone, will be allowed to leave. And that's graduation!"

"When you say 'destroy the order'... what exactly do you mean?" Byakuya asked, saying the current question in everyone's minds.

Monokuma laughed. "Upupu… I'm talking about… **murder.** "

"Murder?!"

"Beating, stabbing, pounding, cutting, burning, crushing, strangling, slaughtering, hexing… The method doesn't really matter. What's really important is that you can't get out unless you kill someone. Do whatever it takes to obtain the best results from the worst method."

'I-I have to m-m-murder someone here to leave?' Akari stood there shocked. Were Monokuma's words true? Did she have to murder someone here? Or would they kill her first?

"Upupu… it's a carnal thrill, a flood of endorphins you can't experience just from attacking someone. As I said, you guys are our 'world's greatest hope'... and just imagine the **despair** of that hope into a coliseum and turning it against itself… It's so exciting!" Monokuma said, looking excited.

At this point Akari stopped listening to the 'opening ceremony'. It took all of her mental strength to not drop to the floor and cry. She was trapped in this school. No one could save them. She would die in here. When she looked up from the floor, she saw Mondo grab Monokuma. He threatened to destroy the bear. Akari then heard it. Constant beeping emitting from Monokuma. The beeping became more consistent when she realized what was happening. And she wasn't the only one who recognized it.

"Get rid of it, now!" Kyouko shouted

"Mondo, Throw Monokuma, quickly!" Zhen shouted, looking rather worried.

"And throw it away from us as far as you can, please!" Nove pleaded.

Looking shocked, Mondo obeyed and quickly threw Monokuma into the air. And as the beeping sounds blended together, Monokuma exploded.

The smell of gunpowder filled the room as some began to cover their noses, none of the students dared to look away from the pollutionous cloud. Having seen many explosions in her life as an actress, Akari wasn't afraid of the bomb but rather what it could have done to them if Mondo hadn't chucked it.

"T-That could've been me!" Mondo stammered, looking at the remaining smoke.

Chihiro decided to speak up. "If the teddy bear was blown up, then we can leave, right?"

But as soon as she uttered those words, another Monokuma popped from the podium.

"I'm not a teddy bear, I'm Monokuma! Now, let's make sure that you all will follow the rules!" Monokuma stated as he threw something in the air.

"Here, these are ElectroIDs! They are your keys into many places like your rooms, so don't lose them!"

Akari caught the ID, inspecting the technology. The ID held lot of of information on her like her weight, height, likes, and dislikes. Akari dismissed the bundle of info as information gathered from her interviews. When fiddled with, it displayed the school rules.

"Now, it's time for the opening ceremony to close! Happy killings!" Monokuma concluded, disappearing from the podium.

The gym was silent. No one knew what to say. They were trapped in Hope's Peak Academy. And no one was going to help them escape.


	6. Exploring the school (Chapter 4)

**Hey guys! It's been awhile since I updated, hasn't it? I literally have no excuse for being this late. I'm trying to update more often but I have no home computer at the moment. So here's Chapter 4 right now. I have written how the first case will go, so don't worry about this being a fluffy fanfiction. This is a Dangan Ronpa fanfiction. Please leave me a review! Those give me motivation.**

 **Nove and Zhen belongs to FireDusk**

 **Nikhil belongs to Nikhilbhavani**

 **Akari belongs to me**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter**!

"We need to scout the school." Kyouko stated, breaking the thick and heavy hostility in the room with her sharp and direct words. "Even if we can't escape now, we need to know more about our surroundings."

"That's right! I can't believe that I forgot about that! We need to search for provisions and supplies. There are so many questions that need to be answered about this place!" Kiyotaka declared, showing his leader-like persona again.

We should go in groups, so no one would be by themselves!" Sayaka quickly added, grabbing a surprised Makoto by the hand.

"Well, I'll be going alone." Byakuya spoke, starting to leave the gym.

"What?! Why? That's a stupid idea, don't you think?" Junko asked, looking confused.

"And give one of you a chance to kill me? I don't think so." He said. "Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us. Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?"

'Well.. He's not wrong to believe this… but his attitude needs some major work.' Akari thought, looking at the blonde-haired heir leaving.

As he started to reach the entrance of the gym, Zhen began to speak.

"Okay. Goodbye, dick. If anything happens to you, then it's not our fault" He said, pointing his left pointer finger to the heir.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" Byakuya slowly turned around and looked Zhen in the eyes.

"You heard me, prick. Get yourself killed. No one will miss you" Zhen declared.

Byakuya ignored him as he calmly walked out of the room. The gym fell silent once more. It seemed like no one wanted to say anything. Until Nikhil spoke.

"So, when are we going to search the area in groups? I'm pretty sure that no one here wants go alone like Douchegami." His light words lifted most of the students attitude.

"Yeah. That's right! More people in groups allow us to find more in less time!" Nove exclaimed. "Aoi, Sakura, can I join your group?"

"Sure! The more, the merrier! Let's go search for our rooms! Monokuma did say that we are going to be comfortable so maybe he meant that we each have our very own rooms!" Aoi said with a smile on her face.

Akari looked at the other students who were creating their own search groups.

Sayaka somehow dragged Makoto with her as Kyouko slowly walked behind them. Aoi, Sakura, and Nove were already grouped together and were talking about sports. Leon, Yasuhiro, and Nikhil formed a group, chatting Nikhil's ears off because apparently Leon and Yasuhiro found out that Nikhil created Break, a popular anime dealing with modern topics. Celes persuaded Hifumi and Zhen to go with her as her bodyguards. Mondo and Chihiro looked at each other awkwardly as Kiyotaka declared themselves a team. That was 5 groups, meaning that two other people besides Akari were alone.

'Alone. Then again, who would want me in their group? A pathetic excuse of a high schooler. Even Hifumi has a group he can be in…'

"Hey." A voice broke Akari out of her thoughts. As she turned, she discovered that Junko was the one who called her.

"Need a group? Me and Touko don't have a group, so do you like wanna join us?"

"S-Sure. But it's only because no one else does, okay? I don't want to get my clothes dirtier than they already are. I woke up on the floor today. My hair is dirty, my nail is chipped, and I want a bath, pronto!" Akari whined, showing her snobby persona.

"You can drop the snobby act, you know." Touko quietly said.

"What?" Akari looked shocked, dropping the act. 'How could they tell?'

Touko squeaked and backed away, looking towards the floor.

"You heard her. You can drop the snobby act around us. We know that you're faking it." Junko declared, walking towards the rest of the students.

As the girls walked near the rest of the group, Kiyotaka began to speak.

"Now that we are in groups, we can explore the facility! In 30 minutes, we meet back here to report our findings."

As the students split up into their respective groups, they scattered into different directions. Junko, Touko, and Akari walked slowly the halls behind the others.

As the remaining students split into their groups and scattered, leaving Touko, Junko, and Akari in the hallway. They slowly walked along the halls, looking at the bolted shut windows. Every nook, crevice, and cranny were tightly secured.

"Ugh! It's hopeless! We're trapped in this damn school!" Junko said, punching a wall.

"Y-yes, maybe right now, but maybe later we will find an opening for us to escape." Touko squeaked, trying to reassure the blonde.

"Are you guys trying to leave, already? It's no use anyway. The exits are covered." Monokuma's voice filled the hallway.

They all turned to face the origin of the voice. Down the hall was a Monokuma, surprisingly running a store.

"Well? Like the setup? It's a MonoShop!" It said with glee.

"Monoshop? But we don't have any money to get anything..." Touko questioned, looked rather down. 'It seemed like she's used to not having money…' Akari wondered. 'As a famous writer, wouldn't she be rich or at least be well off right now?'

"Well that's what Monocoins are for! You are rewarded Monocoins for good deeds like chores!" The plush bear dropped 20 Monocoins in front of the confused girls.

"So long girls~! And tell the others to come here to get some Monocoins to begin with!" The bear waved as the group walked away with said coins, weirded out by the situation. They walked the halls noticing more boarded windows and exits. The gray metal clashed with the colors of the halls.

"Well, our search was fruitless…" Akari spoke, getting nods of agreement as a response. It felt like it was hours since they began to wander the halls looking for a means to escape.

"We should go back to the gym and report this to the others. Maybe they found something more interesting then we did." Junko said, staring at her nails.

The three girls silently walked towards, not wanting to speak. The silence was almost deafening. As they reached the gym, they saw everyone else waiting in the gym.

"What did you all find?" Kyoko asked, wanting to know the results of everyone's search.

"There's a cafeteria and a fully stocked kitchen." Nikhil started to say, messing with his ring.

"And there are bedrooms, like what Monokuma said. One for each person. They even have nameplates to show who goes where!" Nove proclaimed.

"W-we stumbled upon a gift shop that Monokuma runs. He says that he has monocoins for all of you." Touko said, shifting her feet while looking towards the ground.

"There's a laundry room and a trash room with an incinerator. So we don't have to worry about wearing dirty clothes or trash piling up everywhere." Yasuhiro loudly declared.

"And the doors that seem to block other rooms may lead to somewhere else, maybe a new floor. They aren't as secure as the metal blocking the windows, but we couldn't lift those doors. They might be remote controlled." Chihiro quietly added to the conversation.

"It's getting rather late… We should go to our rooms and sleep. Today has been very… interesting, to say the least. We should use tomorrow to go more in depth." Kyoko declared.

Everyone shifted and looked rather exhausted, the shock of Monokuma's words gone. The crowd in the gym slowly dispersed, everyone leaving in search for their rooms. Akari just followed the crowd. As she found her room, as it had her name on the nameplate, she used her ID card to enter.

The room was golden. It contained a purple-trimmed queen sized bed pushed in a corner with a nightstand besides it. Across from the bed was a drawer littered with fan mail and trophies that she obtained over the years of her stating her acting career. Near the door was a bookcase full of her favorite books and manga. Posters of some of the movies she starred in hung on the wall. But the one thing that really got her attention was the security camera that faced her.

'Someone must have known me well to decorate this place with my favorite things,' Akari thought. 'But more importantly, someone is watching me now… is it the mastermind of our situation, or just some pervert?'

As Akari laid on the bed, the severity of her situation hit her like someone threw a stack of bricks at her.

"Is this where I die? Or will someone become desperate and actually kill someone? Am I going to kill or get killed?" She murmured to herself, staring at the ceiling. She didn't think on it more before she rushed to the bathroom, finding the toilet and puking.

"What's wrong with me? Am I sick?" Akari asked herself after wiping her mouth and flushing the toilet.

'Maybe it'll go away when I sleep…' Akari dragged herself to her bedroom, too tired to even change. She turned off the lights and pulled herself to her bed, shutting her eyes as her head hit her pillow.

'I hope tomorrow will be better than today…'


	7. A new friend? (Chapter 5)

**Hey guys, how are you all, today? Here's the next chapter. I originally planned for Akari to be paired up with one of the students here. Should I implement that plot point in (and no, it wasn't going to be Makoto. I don't want to make any character here a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. Makoto needs Kyouko to help him with this predicament.)? And this is another reminder that this is an UA (Universe Alteration) and not an AU (Alternate Universe). There might be one case that'll be the same, but the majority of cases will be different. Who do you think will be the first victim? Write your answer in the review section! And I added bold in the chapter! Do you remember what that means?**

 **Nove and Zhen belongs to FireDusk**

 **Nikhil belongs to Nikhilbhavani**

 **Akari belongs to me**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter Please leave me a review!**

Sleep. One of the most important things a human needs to survive. Something that Akari was disrupted from by Monokuma. She arose on the next day to an announcement made by Monokuma.

"Rise and shine, sleepy heads! It's now 7:00 and this is your morning announcement!"

"Great… we have morning announcements…. Might as well get up now. Who knows what will happen if I don't get up."

She went to her bathroom, feeling icky from sleeping in her clothes. After a quick shower and brushing her teeth, Akari walked out, grabbing her clothes for the day. 'I wonder if anyone else is up right now…' She grabbed and checked her ElectroID, surprised to see that it updated. New info about Junko and Touko appeared along with a hope fragment on their student profile. 'I guess I got close to those two if this appeared.'

As she stepped outside her door, she noticed Chihiro looking at a security camera at the end of the hallway.

"Are you okay? What are you staring at?" Akari asked, walking towards the reserved programmer.

Chihiro squeaked and quickly turned to face her. "N-Nothing really… I'm just trying to learn more about the cameras. Maybe they have a weak spot?"

"Maybe, but we should go to the cafeteria. People are mostly likely there. You can tell everyone there." Akari stated, trying to convince the programmer.

Chihiro agreed with a nod and quietly walked with Akari to the said destination. The cafeteria was larger than the average school cafeteria. It had a red two-toned tiled floor with cream-colored walls. There were tables and chairs, but they appeared to be metal and not bolted down on the floor. Cafe-like signs were on the walls and supported on the floor with random foods listed in chalk. It appeared that everyone was in the cafeteria, sitting in the cafeteria chairs with the exception of Junko who wasn't there. As Chihiro and Akari sat down near the others, Akari felt time slow down. She put her head on her arms and tried to gain her lost sleep back. Her sleep was again disrupted as someone shook her awake.

"Huh? What did I miss?" Akari lifted her head to see who awoken her. As she blinked, her blurry eyes cleared, and she discovered that it was Nikhil who woke her up.

"Everyone is here and we're about to start talking about our situation." He said, yawning and wiping his eyes.

"Oh. Okay" Akari slowly nods and looks around the table, noticing that Junko had arrived and sat in a chair at the far end of the table.

"So, what do we do now? Just live here forever and not fight back?" Mondo asked, feeling irate. He cracked his knuckles, ready to punch his feelings away.

"Fighting is prohibited in a school environment! But I do agree with you for some parts. Our situation does look dire." Kiyotaka loudly proclaimed, pointing at Mondo.

"I-I guess we have to live here since no one here wants to kill anyone…right guys?" Yasuhiro said, looking rather depressed.

"We shouldn't give up." A voice declared from the other end of the table. Everyone turned to discover that it was Kyouko who spoke. "We should keep our eyes open for any opportunity to escape. It might not be today, but we will leave here. For now, we should note anything odd and learn more about this place. Maybe it has weaknesses that we can exploit so we can make our exit."

Nods of agreement took place and threads of hope began to spread throughout the students.

"We should follow the rules, too. I'm sure that no one here wants to be punished by the headmaster, right?" The pale lolita known as Celestia stated, drinking tea from a fancy cup.

"Yes. For now, we need to listen to what the bear says. It might slip up and reveal crucial information."

"We should look around more to learn more in-depth about this place!" Aoi said with a smile. "Maybe something happened while we were sleeping?" Nove and Sakura nodded in agreement.

"But can we eat first? I don't remember eating yesterday, and I'm starving!" Zhen said, lighting blushing as his stomach grumbled.

"And we should assign chores, so no one is stuck doing one thing or nothing at all. Maybe we should have a **rotation**?" Hifumi stated, pushing his glasses up his face.

As a chore list was created and lunch was made, Akari noticed that Junko was giving someone a weird look. "Are you okay? You're giving someone a strange look." Akari finally stated.

"Yes! I'm fine. I'm not looking at anyone!" Junko nervously said, quickly turning to look at Yasuhiro, Zhen, and Leon, who were chatting about getting **laundry duty** and joking with Nikhil since he got **trash duty** with Hifumi and Mondo.

"You don't have a crush on anyone, do you?" Aoi, who was on food duty with Junko and Akari **for the week.**

"No! With them? Those losers? I wouldn't want to touch them with a meter pole!" Junko quickly defended herself.

"Aww! It's Junko's first high school crush!" Aoi teased.

After food was served, everyone dispersed to check out the school by themselves. Akari found herself in the gym searching near the podium for something.

"Are you looking for something?" A voice from behind Akari asked. She turned around to see that the voice belonged to Nikhil.

"Yeah. I saw that Monokuma disappeared from behind the podium and thought that maybe there might be a trapdoor hidden there. And if there is, then maybe there is a way for us to leave!" Akari stated, happy that her stage knowledge can be put to use in this situation.

"Can I help you out? I might not know much about stages, but two heads are better than one!" Nikhil added.

'Do I really want to hang out with Nikhil? ...yes.' She decided.

"Sure. Go ahead. Two heads are better than one." Akari said.

The two looked around the gym looking for some trap doors. There were a couple in the gym, but they were only big enough for Monokuma to go through.

"Well, we found some, but they aren't big enough for us to go through. Maybe if we had a drone or something then we could get through." Nikhil declared, looking bummed out.

"At least we know that Monokuma uses them. Maybe we can tell the others and anticipate where Monokuma is coming from." She proclaimed.

"It's rather late. We spent a while looking for the trapdoors. I should go now…" Nikhil awkwardly said. He stared down and messed with his ring.

"Yeah… And the night announcement will be coming on soon…." Akari rubbed her arm, staring at the door. She hasn't used to talking to people of the opposite sex for a long period of time.

"Well… bye then, Akari." Nikhil waved goodbye and started to leave the gym.

"Bye."

The two walked their own rooms. When they looked at their IDs, they noticed that they received a hope fragment from the other. As Akari entered her room, she felt herself smile. 'Maybe we can escape. I might like some of the people here.' She fell asleep with a smile of her face, not knowing that someone was keeping tabs on her.

"They know too much. This could compromise my plan." The mastermind stated, looking at someone through their monitors. "Get rid of them." They sat in a chair with a smirk. Their accomplice stepped into the light and kneeled, smiling up at the mastermind.

"Anything for you." The accomplice stood up and bowed.

 **Who do you think the mastermind wants to get rid of? Who is the mastermind? Who is their accomplice? Why was Junko acting strange? Maybe you'll find out next chapter!**


	8. No one here will die, right? (Chapter 6)

**Does anyone else realize that DanganRonpa cases revolve around the same thing? Like Case 1 is always accidental, Case 2 the victim is attacked from behind, Case 3 is always a double murder, Case 4 the buff character dies and Chapter 5 is a sacrifice? Should I follow this formula as well? I have two cases planned out right now. And for where the bedrooms are located, the canon characters have their room and Akari's is behind Kiyotaka, Zhen is behind Mondo and next to Akari and Nikhil, Nikhil is behind Byakuya, and Nove is behind Junko.**

 **Nove and Zhen belongs to FireDusk**

 **Nikhil belongs to Nikhilbhavani**

 **Akari belongs to me**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Please leave me a review!**

* * *

As everyone met up in the cafeteria the next day for breakfast, Akari decided to bring up the trapdoors that Nikhil and she discovered.

"There are hidden trapdoors in the gym. There might be more scattered around the school. But I'm sure that only Monokuma can fit through. Maybe we can make something small enough to fit down there?" She said, finishing serving the food.

"And I mapped out where the cameras are." The programmer handed Kyouko the map that they drew.

"Thank you for the information. See? Cooperating will help us escape." Her monotone voice held a small amount of warmth as she was given the information.

"Cooperating? Pah! Why are you all buddy-buddy? You all know that the only way to leave here is to graduate! And the only way to graduate is to murder someone here!" Monokuma suddenly appeared, seemingly proving Akari's trapdoor comment.

The room grew quiet as everyone turned to see the two-toned bear itself, Monokuma. Monokuma was in a pull up chair at the end side of the table.

"Working together is a cute attempt, but you all know that someone here will be the weak chain in the link and want to kill someone else!" Its voice held confidence in the thought of a murder.

"No one here will kill anyone." Kyouko's definite voice cut through the silence that the ominous bear brought.

"You seem so sure about that… That amount of trust you have for your fellow classmates is astonishing! I hope that nothing happens with that trust…" Monokuma's tone was ominous and foreboding, as if the bear knew that the students didn't.

Monokuma disappeared, leaving behind a tense atmosphere. Akari stared down at the table. Will she be the weak link in the chain of students? Will she be the one who cracks down and kills someone else? Or will someone break and kill her? Someone put their hand on her shoulder and Akari looked up to see Kiyotaka.

"Don't be scared. We'll be okay. No one here will kill anyone. As a perfect, I promise that you'll be okay." The perfect loudly declared to not only the actress, but to all the other students. He smiled brightly at Akari.

Akari looked up and couldn't help to be infected with his smile. After breakfast, the group of students dispersed, spreading throughout the school. Akari found herself in the library reading in the corner.

"H-hello?" A timid voice broke the actress out of her reading. As she looked up from her book, she saw that the owner of the voice was the resident luckster.

"Yes?" Her blunt voice cut through the library, making the boy slightly shake. She found it admirable that he stayed instead of instantly running away.

"May I hang out with you? You seem one of the calmest people here." The brunette boy asked, looking down at his shoes rather than Akari.

'Should I hang out with Makoto Naegi?' Akari thought. 'I'm in the middle of a book right now, but…. Sure. Might as well…'

The actress got up from her position and placed her book back on the shelf. She patted way the imaginary dust from her uniform, looking at the boy when she was done. "So, what now?"

The luckster led her deeper into the library, passing Byakuya and Touko on the way. Their destination was the back of the library where a stack of books laid on a desk. The wall behind the desk was covered in bookshelves, filled with books galore. The two sat down and read the books around them, with Makoto reading light novels while Akari read classics and longer books. When she noticed that he was looking at her reading a book about the inner workings of a theatre. She lifted an eyebrow and asked him a question.

"Do you know what type of stage has the audience surrounding it on all sides?"

"Oh… It's an arena stage, right? I remember reading that somewhere." The luckster's luck struck again, making Akari admire him more.

"You're right. Not many non-theatre people know that." She smiled at the teen. As they read and talked about their reading choice, they didn't notice the IDs buzz as their hope fragments updated. Time passed by quickly and by the time they finished their conversation, it was already near nighttime.

"Here." Makoto held up a bowtie that was eerily similar to one belonging to her favorite manga protagonist. "In the library when I was reading manga I noticed that your uniform is the same as the manga. And I won this… So… take it."

Akari looked at the bowtie and accepted it, slightly smiling as she looked at the luckster. "Thank you. This is one of the nicest things anyone gave me…" Makoto smiled back and the duo walked towards the exit of the library.

They both left the library and left for their rooms. As she walked through the halls, she noticed Junko in the halls. She seemed anxious, looking around the hall **holding a slip of paper**. Akari wanted to go and talk to her, but she did not want to miss the nighttime announcement. The actress entered her room and sat on her bed, sensing a feeling of dread. She shook it off and got ready for bed, having Junko's worried face being the last thing she saw before falling asleep. She dreamt of nothingness permeated with the soft banging of metal.

The next day, the group went to the cafeteria as per usual for breakfast. But one student was missing from the group.

"Where's Junko?" Akari asked. Junko was usually late to breakfast from doing her makeup, but she was never this late.

"She's never been this late…" Makoto wondered, confirming Akari's thoughts. He fiddled with his pockets and looked nervously around the room.

"We should go check up on her." Nove said, asserting herself into their conversation. She appeared from Makoto's side, having finished her conversation with Aoi and Sakura.

Akari, Nove, and Makoto walked together to Junko's room. Makoto knocked on her door, but she didn't respond.

"Maybe she already left her room for the cafeteria?" Nove retorted, furthering her brow.

"But we would have already seen her pass us…" Akari said with a frown.

"Maybe she's hiding somewhere?" Makoto asked. He seemed nervous and tugged on the ends of his jacket.

"But why would she hide from anyone?" Nove immediately cut down the luckster's question. He flinched and slowly backed away from the hostess.

"Let's ask around for her!" Nove's high voice instilled some hope in the group.

The group split up and searched the school, looking for the SHSL model. Akari ended up alone as she walked around the school looking for Junko.

"Hey. Are you okay, there? What are you looking for?" Akari turned around to see that the owner of the voice was the singer herself, Sayaka. Sayaka looked at Akari confused.

"I'm looking for Junko since she hasn't shown up for breakfast. Have you seen or heard from her today?" Akari asked the confused pop star.

"No. But I did hear something weird last night. I did hear **some banging and people talking** from somewhere. It was pretty soft, since the walls and doors are thick and it only lasted a little while, but it did happen." The singer answered, looking rather confused herself.

The actress quickly thanked the singer and went on her way to search for the missing model. She stumbled upon Kiyotaka who was monitoring the halls. She asked Kiyotaka about the missing model and any weird occurrences he saw the night before.

"I didn't see anything, but I heard **someone running in the halls** last night. " The perfect stated after Akari asked about Junko. "I was going to apprehend them for staying up after curfew and running in the halls nonetheless, but when I exited my room, no one was in the hall. I also heard **a washing machine run later than the others**. It was after I heard the running in the halls. I thought that the laundry was already washed before our curfew?"

The trio met up to discuss about Junko, but none of them found the missing model. They searched everywhere. They searched the kitchen, the laundry room, the cafeteria, the gym and the trash room. The last place they needed to check was the storage room.

When they entered the storage room, the first thing they noticed was the mess. Boxes were strewn on the floor and storage carts that were originally upright and neat were on the ground and broken.

They noticed a large collection of boxes on the floor beneath a large storage cart in the back of the room.

"Um…." Nove nervously looked at a large storage cart. There was a **bloody handprint** on the storage cart handle. For a while, no one wanted to investigate the damage in the back of the room. But curiosity got the better of them. Nove slowly approached the back with Akari and Makoto in tow. With cooperation, they moved the tall, fallen storage cart up to its original position. But the boxes that fell over remained the same. A moment went by before they decided to move the piles of boxes. As they uncovered the mess of said boxes on the floor, they discovered something horrible. Junko Enoshima was on the floor, her arms covering her face but it seemed like her final action was fruitless as **her head was covered in blood** , showing that she died due to **head trauma**. Mokoto's eye piercing scream resonated throughout the school.

* * *

 **And Junko Enoshima is the first victim! Was it accidental? Or did something malicious occur?**


	9. First blood (Chapter 7)

**I'm alive, guys! I've been pretty busy lately. But during that time, I read some great stories that boosted me in my creative slump. I hope that you enjoy this chapter guys!**

 **Nove and Zhen belongs to FireDusk**

 **Nikhil belongs to Nikhilbhavani**

 **Akari belongs to me**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Please leave me a review!**

* * *

Junko´s body was cold. Her hands covered her face in a futile attempt to save her life. Her bloodied face, once full of attitude, was forever frozen in a state of shock.

"A body has been discovered!"

Akari had to swallow the the bile that was rising in her throat. Makoto's screams in horror alerted the rest of the students to the trio's location. They quickly began to pile into the room and one by one, each student got to see the grizzly scene. Kyouko was the last student to join the group surrounding the model's body.

No one wanted to do anything. Except for Kyouko, who studied the room in detail. Her keen eyes scanned the environment. After seeing everything in range, she closed her eyes and spoke.

"We need to investigate the crime scene." Her voice cut through the silence. "Accident or not, we need to know what happened here."

"That's right, my mysterious student!" Monokuma's voice filled the room once more through the school speakers. "Accident or not, you need to get the full story of certain events! Who knows what will happen if you don't!" Its tone left an unspoken threat in the air. No one wanted to get on the bear's bad side.

"I updated the ElectroIDs with the rules about class trials and investigation! Happy hunting, dear students!" The announcement promptly turned off, leaving the students in shock.

The reality of the situation hit as the silence gripped each student. Junko Enoshima, the SHSL model, is dead. There was one less student then there was yesterday. Someone actually died in this hellish school. An Ultimate was taken away from the world, and the rest of the world may not even know what happened.

"So… don't we have to investigate now?" Nikhil asked the silent collective. He didn't want to incriminate anyone, but he knew what needed to be done.

"I mean the evidence is right here, right?" Zhen asked, messing with his cherry-colored hair.

"...Yeah. But Monokuma said that we have to investigate, after all." Leon responded. He crossed his arms and looked at his friends, raising an eyebrow. "But I don't see why we have to investigate. This was clearly a freak accident."

The lilac-haired teen cautiously walked towards the body. After kneeling down and giving its face a quick scan, she stood up.

"We may have reason to suspect foul play." Kyouko cautioned with a monotone. Her sharp eyes scanned the room, looking at all of her fellow classmates before turning once more to face the scene of the crime. One of her hands was firmly clenched, lightly shaking in place. Blood dripped from her palm, as if her nails dug into her gloves.

"We should break into groups and investigate certain areas of the school! It's the most efficient thing to do." Nove chimed in, slowly inching towards her friends. The others slowly nodded in agreement and broke into groups.

Akari wanted to group up with Touko, but the writer was busy ...following… Byakuya. And Junko… she was gone. Akari only had a single hope fragment to remember the model by. As the actress stared at her ElectroID, a timid voice caught her attention.

"You could join us…" Chihiro called out, outstretching her hand. "The more the merrier, right?" Slowly nodding her head, Akari joined the unexpected trio of Chihiro, Mondo, and Kiyotaka. As the rest of the students hastily left the storage room, the group of four stayed. Since the actress couldn't bear to see her one of the few people she could've called friend dead, she and Chihiro searched around the room while Mondo and Kiyotaka searched near the body.

"Something is wrong here." Kiyotaka stated, looking at the crime scene. His voice drew attention to the other students in the room. "If Junko died because of the storage cart falling on her, wouldn't there be **more wounds on her hands**?" Chihiro and Akari treaded towards the corpse and gasped in shock. What the moral compass said was true. There were only scratches on her surprisingly calloused hands. There weren't even scrapes. The most of the damage was on the **right side of Junko's face**. There was a small pool of blood underneath her head, but with the type of wound that she sustained, there should have been more.

"It looks like it really was murder…" Chihiro quietly responded. The following silence was disrupted by Mondo's shout from near the mess of boxes.

"Oi, guys! I think I found something interesting." The biker lifted up a thick-wrist sized **lead pipe** that was buried in the surrounding boxes. And on the pipe was **one thick, bloody handprint** towards one end of the pipe.

"The V in between the thumb and the forefinger is facing left." Mondo added. The V? Akari was confused about his terms, but she didn't want to say anything. Luckily she didn't have to speak up.

"You mean the check-like shape that your thumb and forefinger make?" Kiyotaka asked.

The biker nodded his head. "Yeah. The forefinger would have pointed right if the person who held this used their right hand."

"Meaning that the person holding this was **left handed**." The biker looked at the corpse once more. "And it couldn't have been Junko herself because her hands are too thin to match these prints."

"We shouldn't tell anyone about the print. At least not until the class trial." Akari spoke out. "The killer might create an alibi if they find out that we know about the pipe."

The group unanimously agreed as they continued to search for more clues. Due to their weak stomachs, Chihiro and Akari decided to split up and cover more space inside the storage room.

"Oh dear…" Chihiro's voice brought some in the spotlight.

The programmer stood near the entrance of the room. In the corner, underneath a messy display of boxes was a stain. It appeared that something spilled on the surface of the floor, and the bottom of the boxes were soaked in the liquid. The programmer attempted lifted up one of the boxes, but with no avail. With a deep breath, Akari grabbed the other end of the box and heaved. As the programmer suspected, a large pool of blood was underneath the soaked boxes. But the most telling piece of evidence wasn't the large amount of blood in the floor.

But rather the splotches of blood that trailed back to Junko's final resting place. The picture was clear to both the programmer and the actress. There was no doubt that this was a murder. And someone was trying to cover up their crime.

"We should go outside." Chihiro said, with tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want to be in here anymore." Akari couldn't agree more. Hand in hand, they left the storage room, keeping what they saw in the back of their heads. And it appeared that they weren't the only ones outside the crime scene.

The duo stumbled upon Zhen and Leon who were talking outside the storage room.

"I can't believe that someone is dead. Do you really believe that it was an accident?" Leon's eyes were full of worry as he spoke to his friend.

"It had to be an accident. I mean… it looks like an accident. So it has to be one." Zhen's tone was confident as he crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes, however, were also full of worry as if he didn't believe what he was saying. The rest of their conversation slowly faded as the duo walked away from the concerned group of teens.

* * *

Outside the storage room, Nikhil was in a dilemma. The answer was cloudy to him. Junko was most certainly dead. But he refused to permit the thought of one of his friends killing in his head. The animator couldn't believe that one of his fellow classmates would stoop as low as murder. As he wandered throughout the hallways, the teen could hear Yasuhiro gasp in shock. As the teen rushed inside the laundry he located the older teen, alive but in a… unique predicament.

"Nonononononono…. This was my best shirt… " Yashihiro circled around the room holding something in his hand.

Nikhil quietly approached the man.

"Who did this!"

He held out one of his yellow shirts. The shirt itself was wet and speckled with a red stain. A further inspection into the washing machine closest to the entrance showed that all of the clothes were stained with splotches of the mysterious red liquid.

"Someone must have a stain on their clothes when we used the washer!"

The animator looked at the older man with hesitation.

"It wasn't you, Yasuhiro? Weren't you on laundry duty last night?" Said teen quickly dropped the shirt and waved his hands, furiously denying the internal prosecution.

"Don't look at me like that! I didn't do it because I only collected laundry yesterday! Leon was supposed to wash and last night and Zhen was supposed to hang the clothes and hand it out later today!"

"Isn't there only one key for laundry? Wouldn't Leon have the key? And you're here right now because…?" The animator gave the man a look.

After the Clairvoyant was stared down for a few seconds, the older teen cracked under the pressure.

"Hey! I just wanted to get my clothes first! Don't judge me! I didn't want my clothes mixed in with everyone else's. The last thing I wanted was getting some panties that belong to someone else in my stack of clothes."

He continued. "And about the key, it's only used to start the cycles! Leon, Zhen, and I decided to place the key behind the calendar when we were finished. But when I got here, it was on top of a washing machine... Leon must have forgot to put it back before curfew."

Nikhil noticed something… peculiar with the stained clothes. Not all of the clothes were stained. In fact, only the clothes in the washing machine that was closest to the entrance were stained. And those clothes were still somewhat wet while the others were dry. One wash hours ago wouldn't have gotten them that wet.

The two checked the settings on that washing machine along with the others. While the other machines were set to heavy load, cold water, with the speed on hang dry, the one closest to the entrance had the dials were set to heavy load, warm water and heavy duty speed. It seemed like someone was in a hurry to clean their clothes. So much so that they didn't remember the settings to remove stains.

Nikhil left the laundry room with more evidence stating that Junko's death wasn't as accidental as they originally thought. As he walked towards his destination, he was lost in thought. He had an idea of who went to the laundry room last night, but the animator really didn't want to believe it.

* * *

Chihiro inched closer to Akari, attempting to feel some semblance of protection from an unseen threat.

"I just can't believe that someone was actually murdered…" The programmer's soft voice drew quiet as they approached their final destination. Akari quietly comforted the teenager. But the short moment of comfort was dashed as the Headmaster's voice rang through the school.

"It's time for the class trial! Meet up at the hallway near the A/V Room. The elevators will now be available for use! Attendance is mandatory, my dear students!" The abruptly ended, leaving the students to follow Monokuma's command.

And so, the remaining students met up outside the room. The air was full of tension as eyes shifted from side to side. It seemed like nobody wanted wanted to the deed. Only Kyouko was brave enough to push the elevator button. The elevator door slid open with a creak, revealing its interior to the survivors. The elevator seemed large enough to fit every student in one trip down. And Monokuma wouldn't kill them there, since it already gotten the death it desired.

One by one, each student entered the elevator. As the last student walked inside, the door slammed shut as the elevator slowly began its descent into the bellows of the Academy. As the elevator approached its destination, the same thought was present in everyone's minds.

Was Junko's death a murder?

Or was it just a freak accident?

In whatever case, the answer will be revealed in the class trial.


End file.
